Romans 11:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Apostle again, according to what was said above, attacks the stubbornness of the Jews. Here also he rises against them, and here also he deprives them of excuse.

You cannot say, he says, that although the prophets exhorted, God called, the very deeds cried out, and zeal was enough to draw us, the commandments were heavy.

Nor can you say that because of this we could not come, since we were required to show works and difficult merits. This cannot even be said.

How could God require from you something that would have obscured His grace? He said this wishing to show how greatly He desired their salvation.

Their salvation could not only have taken place easily, but for God it would have been the greatest glory to reveal His love for mankind.

Why, then, did you fear to approach when works were not required of you? Why do you dispute and remain stubborn when grace is offered to you?

Why do you needlessly and uselessly appeal to the law? You will not save yourself by the law, and you will debase this gift.

If you stubbornly wish to be saved by the law, you destroy the grace of God.

Then, so that they would not regard this as a new teaching, the Apostle says beforehand that those seven thousand were also saved by grace.

By the words, "So then also at the present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace" (Rom 11:5), he shows precisely that they too were saved by grace.

The same is evident from the words, "I have left for Myself" (Rom 11:4). By these words God shows that He Himself accomplished the greater part of the work.

But if it is by grace, you say, why are we not all saved? Because you yourselves do not wish it.

Grace, though it is truly grace, nevertheless saves those who desire it. It does not save those who do not wish it, who turn away from it, and who continually rise up against it and resist it.

Do you see how everywhere the Apostle unfolds this truth, that it is impossible for the word of God not to be fulfilled?

He proves that the promise was fulfilled in the worthy, and that the worthy, though few, can constitute the people of God (Rom 9:6).

At the beginning of the epistle he expressed the same thought more forcefully, saying: "What if some did not believe?"

He did not stop there, but added: "Let God be true, though every man be a liar" (Rom 3:3-4).

Now again he unfolds this thought with other arguments. He proves the power of grace and the fact that some are always saved, while others perish.

Therefore let us give thanks to God because we were found among those being saved. Since we could not be saved by works, we were saved by the gift of God.

Let us bear witness to our gratitude not only by words, but also by deeds and actions.

Gratitude is perfect when we do what serves the glory of God and avoid the things from which we have been delivered.

If we offend a king and, instead of undergoing punishment, are deemed worthy of a reward, and then offend him again, justice requires that we suffer the greatest punishment.

We would be guilty of extreme ingratitude. The punishment would be much greater than the former one, because the first offense did not prove our ingratitude as strongly as the one committed after honor and many benefits.

Therefore let us avoid the things from which we have been delivered. Let us give thanks not with our lips alone, lest it be said also of us: "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Isa 29:13).

Is it not strange that the heavens declare the glory of God, while you, for whose sake even the heavens glorify God, do such deeds that through you the God who made you is blasphemed?

For this, of course, not only the one who blasphemes, but you yourself are liable to punishment.

The heavens glorify God not by emitting a sound, but by moving others to praise through contemplation. Yet even of them it is said that they declare the glory of God.

So also those who lead a life worthy of wonder glorify God, even if they keep silence, when others glorify Him through them.

A pure life inspires wonder even more than heaven does. Therefore, when we converse with pagans, we appeal not to heaven but to people.

They were once worse than beasts, and God made them like angels. By pointing to this change, we stop their mouths.

Man is much better than heaven and can acquire a soul more excellent than heavenly beauty.

Heaven, though visible for so long a time, has persuaded few. But Paul, after preaching for a short time, drew the whole inhabited world.

This was because he possessed a soul no less than heaven, a soul capable of drawing all.

Our soul is not worthy even of the earth. His soul is equal in worth to the heavens.

Heaven stands, keeping its boundary and law. But the height of Paul's soul surpassed all the heavens and converses with Christ Himself.

Its beauty is so great that God Himself bears witness to it. At the creation of the stars the angels marveled, but Christ Himself marveled at Paul.

He said: "He is a chosen vessel unto Me" (Acts 9:15).

Clouds often cover heaven. But no temptation darkened Paul's soul. Even amid storms it appeared brighter than clear midday and shone as it had before the darkness.

The sun shining in him did not pour forth rays that could be dimmed by a gathering of temptations. Rather, amid temptations it shone still more brightly.

Therefore Christ said: "My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9).

Let us therefore imitate him. If we desire it, then in comparison with us neither heaven, nor the sun, nor the whole world will be of any account.

All these things exist for us, not we for them. Let us show that we are worthy that all these things were created for us.

If we prove unworthy of this, how shall we be worthy of the Kingdom?

If those who live so that God is blasphemed are unworthy to look upon the sun, then blasphemers are also unworthy to enjoy the creatures that glorify God.

A son who insults his father is not worthy to make use of the services of honorable servants.

Therefore the creatures of God will be deemed worthy of great glory, while we shall undergo punishment and torment.

What a calamity it will be if the creation, called into being for your sake, is transformed into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Yet we, who were children of God, and for whose sake creation will enjoy that great blessedness, shall be sent to destruction and Gehenna because of great negligence.

Therefore, so that this may not happen, let us acquire a pure soul and preserve it as such. Or rather, let us increase its radiance.

If we have defiled the soul, let us not despair. "Though your sins be as scarlet," God says, "I will make them white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, I will make them white as wool" (Isa 1:18).

If God promises, do not doubt. But do what can draw these promises to yourself.

Have you committed many evil deeds and transgressions? What of it? You have not yet gone down into Hades, where no one confesses.

The arena has not yet been abolished. You still stand in the midst of the contest, and by the final struggle you can make up for all defeats.

You are not yet where the rich man is. It has not yet been said to you: "Between you and us a great gulf has been fixed" (Lk 16:26).

The Bridegroom has not yet come, and no one will fear to give oil. You can still buy and leave some in reserve.

No one will yet say: "Lest there not be enough for us and you" (Mt 25:9). There are many sellers. There are the naked, the hungry, the sick, and those bound in chains.

Feed some, clothe others, visit those who lie ill, and you will have more oil than springs.

The day of accounting has not yet come. Make proper use of the time. Reduce debts.

To the one who owes a hundred measures of oil, say: "Take your bill and write fifty" (Lk 16:6).

Act likewise with regard to money, words, and everything else, imitating that steward. Persuade both yourself and your relatives to this.

You still have the right to say this. You are not yet in the necessity of asking another for it. You have power to give counsel to yourself and to others.

But when you depart there, it will be impossible for you to do either one as you ought. And rightly so.

So much time was given to you, yet you benefited neither yourself nor another. How, then, will you be able to obtain such mercy once you are already in the hands of the Judge?

Considering all this, let us care for our salvation and not destroy the good opportunity of the present life.

It is possible, entirely possible, even at the last breath, to please God. It is possible to receive approval even by means of a will, though not as easily as during life.

How exactly? If you write Christ among your heirs and assign Him a portion from the whole inheritance.

Did you not feed Him during your life? At least after death, when you are no longer master of your estate, hand it over to Christ.

He loves mankind and does not exact from you harshly.

Of course, the love is greater and the reward greater if you feed Him during your life. But if you have not done this, then at least fulfill the second thing.

Leave Him as co-heir of your possessions together with your children.

If you do not dare even this, remember that His Father made you His co-heir, and cast out your inhumanity.

Indeed, what excuse will you have if, together with your children, you do not make Him a participant who made you a participant in heaven and was slain for you?

Certainly, whatever He did, He did not do in payment of a debt, but in manifestation of grace. Yet after so many benefits you have still remained His debtor.

Nevertheless, in all this He crowns you as though He were receiving mercy from you, not exacting a debt, while in reality He receives from you only what is His own.

Therefore give Him money already useless to you, over which you are no longer master. Christ will give you the Kingdom, always useful to you, and together with it He will grant you present blessings.

If He is co-heir with your children, He will ease their orphanhood, deliver them from wrongs, repel plots, and stop the mouths of slanderers.

If your children cannot defend the will, He Himself will do this and will not allow it to be violated.

But if He does allow it, then He Himself will fulfill everything written with greater generosity, because you counted Him worthy to be written together with your children.

Therefore leave Him as your heir. You must go to Him, and He will judge you in everything done here.

Yet there are wretched and pitiable people who, though they have no children, refuse to do this. They prefer to divide their possessions among table companions and flatterers.

They are more willing to give to this or that person than to Christ, who has benefited them so greatly.

What could be more unreasonable than such people? If you compare them with donkeys or stones, even then you will not fully express their irrationality and insensibility.

You will find no example sufficient to depict their madness and foolishness.

What justification will those find who not only did not feed Christ during their life, but, even as they prepare to go to Him, refuse to give Him even a small part?

They refuse from that very estate which they no longer possess. They bear such hostile and unfriendly feelings toward Him that they do not assign Him even what has become useless to themselves.

Do you not see how many people were not deemed worthy to have even such an end, but were suddenly snatched away?

God made you master so that you might look after what belongs to you, speak your word, and dispose of all your property.

What excuse will you have when, after receiving such great mercy from Him, you neglect His benefaction?

You behave entirely contrary to the way your forefathers in the faith behaved.

While still alive they sold everything and brought it to the feet of the Apostles. But you, even at death, give no portion to the needy.

"But if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." Here he shows that the Jews who did not believe have no excuse at all.

You cannot say, he says, that God required works and labors from you. Everything is the work of grace. Why then do you not want to be saved, when such a good is offered to you without demanding labors from you?

Therefore those who wished were saved. These are the ones who constitute the people of God. Thus God has not rejected His people, who are worthy of salvation.

"But if it is by works, then it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work." If we pleased God by works, grace would no longer have any place.

But if there is a place for grace, there is no longer work, and work is not work. For where grace is, work is not required. Where work is, there is no grace.

"But if it is by grace, then it is not by works," he says, "otherwise grace would no longer be grace."

Where one can hope to succeed by works, he says, both the name of grace and grace in reality would be entirely vain and superfluous. For "the reward to the one who works is counted not according to mercy, but according to debt" (Rom 4:4).

Therefore, if grace were by works, it would no longer be grace.

Grace is not given because of our good works, but so that we may be able to do them. That is, it is not given because we have fulfilled the Law, but so that we may be able to fulfill the Law.

It is clear that since grace is the gift of God, there must be no reward for works. Grace proceeds freely, according to mercy. See Gal 2:15-16.

This is because life according to the Law did not justify them. This is what the Apostle means by “from works.” Rather, the grace of God saved them.

For this reason salvation is called grace, since it takes place according to divine generosity. This is also what the Apostle understood in what he said concerning the patriarch Abraham: “Now to him who works, the reward is not counted according to grace, but according to debt” (Rom 4:4).

The Apostle set this forth in such a way because he was striving to show that the Law is entirely incompatible with grace. In his view, the two can never come together, but must inevitably rise up against each other.

Concerning chapter 4, verse 5, we have already explained that, when the Apostle speaks of justification by faith apart from works, he means the justification given in baptism.

He does not mean the justification that will be given at the judgment of Christ and will be final. For this final justification, both faith and works are equally necessary.

The necessity of this distinction between the two kinds of justification is especially evident from what is said below in chapter 11.

The Apostle says that the Israelites, except for the remnant preserved "by grace and not by works" in verse 6, "were hardened" in verse 7. They "fell" and were "diminished" in verse 12.

In the seventh point, the Holy Apostle Paul teaches that the Gentiles called in place of the rejected Jews must not boast over them. Rather, they must be concerned for their own destiny.

For God did not cast away His whole people, nor did He cast them away forever (Rom 11:1-10).

To prove the first point, that the whole people was not rejected, the Apostle says: "For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin" (Rom 11:1).

St. Chrysostom remarks on this: lest someone object to Paul's words, "I am an Israelite," and say, "Do you constitute the people? Does your calling mean that the whole people has been called?" the Apostle adds: "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew" (Rom 11:2).

Explaining the position of the Hebrews in relation to Christianity, the Apostle points out that many of them departed from God, but not all. For example, the Apostle Paul himself was a Hebrew, yet by the mercy of God he was not rejected.

Many other believers from the Hebrews were also saved. Yet they were saved not by their works, but by grace. The essential property of grace consists above all in its independence from works.

In comparison with the whole Hebrew people, the believers were not many. They were such a remnant as existed in the days of the prophet Elijah. He thought that he alone remained faithful, while God showed him that there were still as many as seven thousand believers.

Having said, "So at the present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace," the Apostle leads us into the depth of the events taking place.

Then God Himself preserved for Himself seven thousand out of the multitude of a great people. Now He likewise chooses by grace, from the whole mass of the people, the few who are being saved.

Who, then, are the elect? They are all those who do not hope in themselves, in their works, or in any external advantages. They entrust all their salvation into God's hands.

They are ready to receive it from His goodness, if He is pleased to deem them worthy of it. Upon such humble ones falls the ray of God's grace, and it draws them to the source of salvation.